Can The Way You Type Detect Parkinson's Disease?

A new study is looking to the computer keyboard for answers.

The way you type may say something about how tech-savvy you are, but it also may reveal secrets about your brain. A group of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA, is testing the link between typing and motor skills, which they believe can detect Parkinson's disease.

The study looked at not how quickly or slowly a person types, but how long their finger is pressed down on each single key. They explain that the rate at which you press down and then release your fingers over the keys can indicate just how quickly your brain can control your muscles.

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When the body needs to start moving, the brain's motor cortex sends signals through the brain to the spine, where spinal neurons are sent out to activate muscles all over the body. For Parkinson's disease patients, dopamine-producing cells in the brain become inactive, leading to motor issues such as tremors and difficulty walking. A healthy person also can experience motor impediments, however, from something as common as fatigue.

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So MIT researchers developed a way to tell when someone is experiencing motor impairment, for example, when they're half-asleep vs. being fully rested. Tested on about two dozen Parkinson's patients, the study found that the algorithm could distinguish between someone with Parkinson's disease and someone without it. A larger study of Parkinson's patients is now in the works.

The team is also trying to develop smartphone apps that could collect the same type of data from mobile device activity. "We thought this was a unique opportunity to have a window into the brain using your normal interactions with an electronic device. You already have the hardware. You just have to let someone evaluate the information you collect every day when you use the device, and try to pull it out for health-related purposes," says researcher Alvaro Sanchez-Ferro.

The Daily Mail reports that Parkinson's patients are usually diagnosed five to 10 years after the disease has begun affecting their body, and by that time the damaging effects have spread beyond repair. If this new algorithm is successful, earlier diagnosis could lead to improved treatment.

Aside from being able to detect Parkinson's disease much earlier than is now possible, the researchers believe their method may also be useful in trying to identify other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, that also affect motor skills.